Early in the season the Wizards needed Al Thornton at the forward spot. Then they traded for Rashard Lewis and Mo Evans. Then Josh Howard returned from injury.

Then Thornton dislocated the middle finger on his shooting hand, he slid totally out of the rotation, and he was not getting back in soon. So Tuesday he and the Wizards agreed to a buyout, the team announced.

Thornton was drafted No. 15 by the Clippers and spent his first two years with the team. He is pretty athletic and can get you some points in transition and when he gets to the rim. The problem is he takes a lot of midrange jumpers when he just shouldn’t because he can’t hit them. His defensive rotations are not going to inspire poetry, or big minutes either. That said, there are worse backup threes in the league if you can get him on a minimum deal as the Warriors are about to.